Snowy Pattern Continues

Not much has changed since I last blogged. I will try to pinpoint the powder days that are upcoming, there should be many. First of all we are moving deeper into a very cold snowy pattern. I have charted it out. Basically, we have a blocking ridge of high pressure that is dropping Arctic Cold into Central Canada (See post on Arctic Oscillation). That is forcing a large cold air mass down through our area that is tapping into a very wet moisture tail. Remember, you can click on any image and get a much bigger picture.



This afternoon and this evening we will see more snow coming to the Sierra. It will tapper off later tonight and leave between 2-6 inches in the Sierra and Carson Range. Probably the lower amount in the Carson Range (Mt. Rose). Tomorrow should be great, just like today. Perhaps a bit more pow.

Now the fun gets started. It looks like near constant moderate snowfall in the Sierra and Carson Ranges starting Sunday night and lasting until Tuesday afternoon. I look for 1-2 feet in that time period. Here is a look at early Monday afternoon:



The only dry day that we will see until after Christmas will be Wednesday. After that the models have a huge, wet storm following the same path right into Tahoe. Here is a look at Friday:



Remember these storms will bring all snow (as it looks now) to Tahoe ski resorts. The 2nd wave of this storm looks to be the most potent and should arrive here around Christmas Eve:


This will bring an epic dump to Tahoe and Mammoth. Finally, the models have us in the 4-7 inches of liquid precip area for the next 10 days. That could be around 4-8 feet of snow between now and Christmas day:



Conditions up at Mt. Rose are nearly perfect with the mountain 100% open. These storms could blanket all of Slide Mountain down to Washoe Valley.

Remember, we are still in a neutral ENSO condition. El Nino could be here by late January which could bring an epic spring. Pretty amazing how we break all snowfall records two years ago, then get nothing until late January last year then get pounded again this year ... which could be the biggest of them all. Yes, this is quite a very complex machine we call Earth!

Stay Tuned ...